The third edition of the Hero Intercontinental Cup will be played between 9th June 2023 and 18th June 2023. India will be hosting the tournament and the talismanic skipper and goal-scorer Sunil Chhetri will be leading the side.
A total of 4 teams will be taking part in this multi-nation tournament and the other teams involved are Mongolia, Lebanon and Vanuatu. India will be coming in as favourites and would be hoping to win another title.
If we take a look at the 4 teams and their rankings as per FIFA, then India are the 2nd highest ranked team with a ranking of 101. Only Lebanon are above the Blue Tigers as they have a ranking of 99.
A lot of key players are in India’s squad and they will be hoping to execute their skills and abilities and will be hoping to win India the 3rd edition of the Hero Intercontinental Cup.
In this article, we take a look at 3 reasons why India might win the Hero Intercontinental Cup 2023:
1. The presence of home support
Bhubaneshwar will be hosting the entire Hero Intercontinental Cup. As the venue will be in India, the Sunil Chhetri led side will be banking on their home support. In the recently-concluded Hero Tri-Nation Series 2023, India enjoyed a massive home support and that was one of the reasons as to why Igor Stimac’s side had won the tournament.
As Odisha is often labelled as the “Sports Capital of India”, India would be favourites ahead of this tournament.
2. India recently won the Hero Tri-Nation Series 2023
The Sunil Chhetri led Indian football team recently won the Hero Tri-Nation Series 2023 which involved Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan as well. India locked horns with both these sides and had positive results.
After beating Myanmar 1-0, India outsmarted Kyrgyzstan 2-0 and had bagged the honours of the tournament. Momentum and confidence was on their side and they had delivered the good with perfection and proper expertise.
3. India has a better ranking than other sides in the Hero Intercontinental Cup
Apart from Lebanon, India ranks higher than all the other teams who are part of the Hero Intercontinental Cup 2023. While India has a ranking of 101, Lebanon has a ranking of 99. The difference isn’t that stark as well.
Mongolia is ranked 183 and is the lowest ranked team in the tournament. On the other hand, Vanuatu has a ranking of 164 in the rankings published by FIFA.
India should have a good tournament and the likes of Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Naorem Mahesh Singh and Sandesh Jhingan will be key players in the Hero Intercontinental Cup 2023.
Also read: India Name Squad For Hero Intercontinental Cup & SAFF Championship
